Tagore Festival

Down in deepest Devon at Dartington Hall the birth of Rabindranath Tagore was remembered. A week of cultural and intellectual events were brought together to celebrate his poetry, artistry, writing and philosophy. Many people from all over the world congregated to share, explore, discuss and interpreted what this man offered the world. It was an extraordinary week of collaboration, craft and creativity. I imagine everyone who attended the Tagore Festival will have left with their own unique memories and experiences. The words below are an expression of what the festival meant to me and they are a gift to the one I love.

Tagore says true living is ever growing
outside of itself.
Ever growing, ever changing.
Change is life.
It is struggle and joy. And life is creation,
born of struggle and joy.

Satish says you can complain or celebrate.
Oh to have a moment
with celebration imminent
about to begin, all expectation
charged with energy, tantalising!
And yet all celebration can lead to complaint.
Change is inevitable, intrinsic, life-giving
Transformational.
Birth cannot happen without death.

Mi says everything is connected to everything else,
all is one. In-hale, ex-hale.
All is as it should be.
All is well.
Everything is unfolding in its magical,
majestic beauty.
Smell the flowers, glory in the colours,
reach out and touch the one you love.

Zen says have a cup of tea (mate).
Listen to the leaves tapping at your window.
Church bells chiming from far away.
And a child smiles while watching a robin flap its wings.

Jane Goodall says ooh ooh aah ahh,
that's hello in chimpanzee, and offers us
a return to hope, to making a difference,
finding a common ground, a sense of personal
involvement, togetherness and integrity.
Don't wait for the politicians!

Gandhi says be the change you want to see
in the world.
We each have our own unique contribution
to make. Live with simplicity, in self-
contained communities and know your passions.

Benjamin Zephaniah says we are listening to the
wrong radio stations!
Get naked, show your vulnerabilities.
Love your mother - Pachamama.
Keep your moral compass set on your own true North.
Fight for equality. And don't let the establishment
get you down.

Deepak says everything is co-related to
everything - instantaneously. It's not that we're
interconnected.
It's that we are inseparable.
Did you know there is some deep music playing
and we are all dancing to it, even though
we don't know the tune.

The Beatles say all you need is love.

And So ...

The way is to let go of everything
we think we know
and think we are.
And from the point of not knowing
find our new voices, listen to one
another and co-create new stories
from the mystery.
Be open, unapologetically so.
Be soulful, without fear.
Be loving with all our hearts.
Dance, sing and play.
Celebrate.
Co-create.
For we are alive.